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In a ludicrous, yet highly instructive example of just how entrenched the Israeli-Arab conflict has become, Palestinian commentators are having a hissy fit over the fact that visiting US President Barack Obama was served felafel by Israel.

Palestinian news agency Al-Watan Voice said the Obama team's approval of felafel as an "Israeli meal" was evidence that the American visit was "devoid of any perspective of peace."

Other Palestinian publications such as Palestine Today and Al Quds claimed that along with the renaming of cities, Israel's usurping of the felafel is just part of a larger campaign to "steal" what they call "Palestinian heritage," and Obama is apparently helping Israel to do so.

The Palestinian Arabs (remember, a people group that did not exist a mere 100 years ago) insist that despite its broad acceptance as Israel's "national snack food," felafel is actually the oldest and most famous component of "Palestinian cuisine."

Of course, Jews have inhabited these lands for even longer than the Arabs, so it is impossible to know which ethnic group actually came up with felafel (fried chickpeas) first.

Nor does it matter. What does matter is that Arabs are clearly still being taught to view not only Israel, but the Jews in general as a people who do not belong to the region, and that is a recipe for continued conflict.